COMPLIMENTARY  DINNER 


TO 

on.  PERRY  BELMON 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"  Sver'thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


(&omplxmmtmv$  Mnnzx 


TO  THE 

on,  Perry  Belmont, 

AT 


§elmomco's, 


Saturday  Evening,  December  30th,  1882. 


Nelson  J.  Waterbury,  Jr., 
Hermann  Oelrichs, 
Grenville  Kane, 
Robert  Townsend, 
Lewis  H.  Sayre,  M.  D., 

Committee  of  Arrangements. 


NEW  YORK: 
Francis  &  Loutrel,  45  Maiden  Lane. 

1888. 


Printed  by  order  of  the  Committee. 


The  object  of  this  testimonial  to  Mr.  Belmont 
upon  his  re-election  to  Congress  from  the  first 
district  of  New  York,  is  briefly  expressed  in  the 
invitation  by  which  it  was  tendered. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


http://archive.org/details/complimentarydinOOunse 


INVITATION. 


New  York,  December  n,  1882. 

Hon.  Perry  Belmont. 

Dear  Sir  : — We  share  in  the  pleasure  which  your  course  in 
Congress  has  given  to  your  fellow  Democrats.  It  has  aided  in 
producing  the  great  uprising  of  the  people,  which  has  resulted 
in  a  signal  victory  for  the  nominees  of  the  Democratic  party, 
and  in  great  benefit  to  the  cause  of  good  government.  In 
common  with  all  the  younger  Democracy  of  New  York,  we 
have  been  especially  gratified  by  your  success,  because  you  are 
one  of  our  number.  It  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  features  of 
the  recent  triumph,  that  it  was  largely  produced  by  the  revolt 
of  young  men  against  the  abuses  and  corruption  that  were 
signally  rebuked  by  it. 

As  a  token  of  the  approbation  with  which  we  regard  your 
action,  and  in  the  belief  that  such  an  expression  would  increase 
the  present  tendency  of  young  men  who  have  not  been  involved 
in  the  political  contentions  of  the  past,  to  range  themselves  on 
the  side  of  Democratic  principles  and  of  the  Constitution,  we  in- 
vite you  to  meet  us  and  other  friends  at  dinner,  at  as  early  a 
day  as  your  Congressional  duties  will  permit. 

We  are,  sincerely,  your  friends  and  fellow-Democrats. 

Edward  S.  Rapallo,  F.  Neilson, 

Albert  Weber,  J.  E.  Roosevelt, 

A.  Wright  Sanford,  J.  D.  Prince, 

Nelson  J.  Waterbury,  Jr.,  Cyrus  Edson,  M.  D., 

Lewis  H.  Sayre,  M.  D.,  Hermann  Oelrichs, 

John  Hone,  Jr.,  Robert  Townsend, 

Hamilton  B.  Tompkins,  Henry  Marquand, 


6 


Robert  B.  Lawrence, 
Edward  Bell, 

D.  Henry  Knowlton, 
Arthur  T.  Hendricks, 

F.  K.  Pendleton, 
George  A.  Gunther, 

G.  H.  Wynkoop,  M.  D., 
J.  Marion-Sims,  M.  D., 
J.  Fred.  Kernochan, 
Charles  N.  Harris, 
Thomas  Newbold, 
Lloyd  S.  Bryce, 
Henry  Stanton, 
Robert  Tyler,  Jr.. 

H.  I.  Nicholas, 

F.  Potter, 
John  Jeroloman, 
William  McClure, 
De  Lancey  Nicoll, 
Grenville  Kane, 

G.  L.  Rives, 
Charles  E.  Lewis, 
John  Brady  Jarvis, 
Franklin  Bartlett, 
Willis  S.  Paine, 
Archibald  M.  Maclay, 
Henry  Gachard, 

E.  C.  La  Montagne, 
A.  Butler-Duncan, 

J.  F.  O'Shaughnessy, 
Melville  A.  Kellogg, 

E.  N.  Dickerson,  Jr., 
Alfred  Youngs, 
Douglas  Hilger, 
Lucien  Oudin, 

F.  M.  Johnson, 
Edward  W.  Perry, 
Arthur  Ingraham, 
Center  Hitchcock, 
J.  D.  Cheever, 


William  Lummis, 
Edward  H.  Schell, 
Wilmot  T.  Cox, 
Charles  W.  Dayton. 
H.  Duncan  Wood, 
R.  Percy  Alden, 
A.  Gebhard, 
J.  G.  K.  Lawrence, 
George  G.  DeWitt,  Jr., 
Richard  O'Gorman,  Jr., 
W.  C.  Floyd-Jones, 
Charles  W.  Cass, 
Jno.  Gilmer  Speed, 

G.  H.  Redmond, 
Paul  Dana, 

P.  Loriliard,  Jr., 
R.  Maclay  Bull, 
Charles  D.  Ingersoll, 
W.  E.  Curtis, 
John  Travers, 

H.  H.  Honorc,  Jr., 
W.  D.  Stow, 

Joseph  D.  Bryant,  M.  D., 
John  D.  Crimmins, 
John  M.  Bowers, 
Augustus  H.  Vanderpoel, 
T.  A.  Maitland. 
G.  M.  Speir,  Jr.. 
Eugene  Kelly,  Jr., 
Fordham  Morris, 
J.  A.  Montant, 
P.  C.  Hewitt, 
James  B.  Livingston, 
Walter  Kobbe, 
Lucius  K.  Wilmerding, 
Charles  W.  Clinton, 
Frank  Lawrence, 
Arthur  M.  Hunter, 
John  F.  Adam, 
W.  N.  Jackson. 


REPLY  OF  MR,  BELMONT. 


House  of  Representatives,  ) 
Washington,  D.  C,  December  21,  1882.  f 

Gentlemen :  I  accept  with  pleasure  the  kind  invitation 
with  which  you  have  honored  me,  and  I  hope  to  meet  you  on 
Saturday  evening,  December  30.  Believe  me,  most  gratefully, 
your  obedient  servant, 

PERRY  BELMONT. 

To  Frederic  Neilson, 
Edward  S.  Rapallo, 

AND  OTHERS. 


/ 


THE  DINNER. 


The  signers  of  the  invitation  to  Mr.  Belmont  assembled  at 
Delmonico's,  in  the  evening  of  December  30th,  to  receive  their 
guests,  and  an  agreeable  half  hour  was  spent  in  congratulations 
to  Mr.  Belmont,  and  an  interchange  of  courtesies  among  those 
present.  The  gratifying  results  of  the  fall  elections  gave  life 
to  the  occasion,  and  the  entertainment  was  in  every  particular 
of  a  most  delightful  character. 

At  7.20  P.  M.  the  doors  of  the  large  dining  room  were 
thrown  open,  and  Mr.  J.  D.  Prince,  escorting  Mr.  Belmont, 
entered  the  room,  followed  by  the  rest  of  the  company.  The 
room  was  tastefully  decorated  with  flags  and  shields,  and  over 
the  Chairman's  seat  there  was  a  full  length  portrait  of  Jefferson, 
copied  from  that  in  the  City  Hall.  Four  tables  were  filled  with 
guests.  Mr.  J.  D.  Prince  presided,  and  upon  his  right  were 
seated,  Mr.  Belmont,  the  Rev.  Edward  Clarke  Houghton, 
Lieutenant-Governor  David  B.  Hill  and  Mr.  C.  Bell.  On  the 
left  of  Mr.  Prince  sat  Mr.  Nelson  J.  Waterbury,  Jr.,  Hon.  W. 
U.  Hensell,  Chairman  of  the  Democratic  State  Committee  of 
Pennsylvania;  Hon.  Bayard  Stockton,  of  New  Jersey;  Hon. 
Francis  H.  Woods,  of  Albany,  and  Dr.  A.  E.  Macdonald. 
About  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  were  present.  The 
arrangements  for  the  dinner  were  in  the  hands  of  a  Committee 
consisting  of  Nelson  J.  Waterbury,  Jr.,  Hermann  Oelrichs, 
Robert  Townsend,  Grenville  Kane  and  Dr.  Lewis  H.  Sayre. 
Among  the  invited  guests  were  Courtland  H.  Smith  and  William 
L.  Royal,  of  Virginia,  Skipwith  Gordon,  of  Baltimore,  M.  Lewis 
Clark,  of  Louisville,  Charles  DeKay  Townsend,  of  Oyster  Bay, 
Lieut.  Thomas  H.  Barber,  U.S.A.,  Otneil  De  Forest,  Frederick 
A.  Potts,  Jr.,  Delos  McCurdy,  George  W.  Campbell,  Jr.,  Russell 
Hoadley,  Randolph  Morris,  Jefferson  M.  Levy,  Reginald  H. 
Sayre,  Archibald  W.  Speir  and  Edward  P.  Doyle. 


TOASTS  AND  SPEECHES. 


At  the  conclusion  of  the  dinner,  the  chairman,  Mr.  Prince, 
called  the  assemblage  to  order,  and  in  proposing  the  first  toast, 
said : 

Gentleman:  In  calling  your  attention  to  the  object  of  our 
meeting  this  evening,  it  seems  to  me  proper  that  I  should  say 
one  or  two  things,  by  way  of  preface  to  the  toast  to  which  1  am 
about  to  ask  you  to  drink.  I  think  that  the  prevailing  danger 
of  the  present  age  and  generation,  is,  apathy.  Men  are  too 
apt  to  be  simply  negative  ;  to  be  content  with  things  as  they 
are;  to  be  ambitious  to  take  life  easily.  The  explanation  of 
this  tendency  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  life  comes  more 
easily,  more  pleasantly,  more  smoothly  for  us,  than  it  did  for 
our  predecessors.  The  result  of  this,  to  many,  is  a  tendency  to 
yield  to  the  temptation  to  do  little  or  nothing  for  ourselves, 
and  to  let  others  do  the  thinking  and  the  working  for  us.  There 
are,  however,  some  among  us  who  are  willing  to  work.  In  our 
guest  of  the  evening  we  have  a  conspicuous  example  of  one 
who  is  willing  to  overcome  this  tendency  and  temptation  to 
apathy,  to  forego  a  life  of  selfish  indulgence,  luxury  and  ease, 
and  to  devote  his  time,  his  talents  and  his  energy  to  the  service 
of  his  country.  {Applause.)  Therefore  it  is  that  we  regard 
this  occasion  as  important,  and  esteem  our  guest  as  worthy  of 
recognition  and  honor ;  as  being  the  embodiment  of  a  spirit 
which  we  cannot  value  too  highly.  It  is  in  sympathy  with  this 
sentiment,  which  I  know  finds  an  echo  in  the  mind  of  each  one 
here  to-night,  that  I  ask  you  to  join  with  me  in  drinking  the 
health  of  our  guest,  the  Hon.  Perry  BELMONT : 

"  For  his  devotion  to  duty,  his  fidelity  to  principle, 
and  the  firmness  and  courage  he  has  shown,  we  honor 


I J 


him.  We  hail  his  success,  not  only  as  an  incentive  to 
young  men,  but  as  a  fresh  proof  that  the  great  Demo- 
cratic party  unites  in  its  service,  the  vigor  of  youth 
with  the  wisdom  of  age." 

After  the  applause  with  which  Mr.  Belmont  was  received 
had  subsided  he  spoke,  as  follows,  being  listened  to  throughout 
with  marked  attention. 

SPEECH  OF  HON.  PERRY  BELMONT. 

Mr.  President  mid  Gentlemen  :  I  know  I  shall  not  be  satisfied 
with  anything  I  may  say  in  trying  to  thank  you,  as  I  wish  I 
could,  for  this  great  kindness  to  me.  Yet,  believe  me,  I  appre- 
ciate the  honor  you  have  done  me,  although  I,  of  course,  see 
in  your  presence  here,  not  so  much  a  compliment  to  me — that  I 
feel  would  be  undeserved — as  the  evidence  of  your  own  interest, 
the  deep  and  active  interest,  which  each  and  all  of  you  take  in 
political  affairs.  There  is  no  subject  of  interest  more  honora- 
ble, and  there  are  few  more  absorbing,  more  full  of  opportunity, 
than  American  politics.  It  is  true  we  have  a  fashion  among 
us  of  painting  our  politics  black  ;  printer's  ink  is  black ;  criticism 
is  wholesome,  but  we  should  fall  into  error  did  we  not  read 
between  the  lines  of  partisan  controversy,  if  we  desire  to  form 
a  correct  judgment  of  public  questions,  and  of  public  men 
especially.  Some  of  you,  my  friends,  are  connected  with  the 
press.  You  know  how  you  can  turn  the  magnifying  lenses 
upon  mediocrity  and  produce  a  giant ;  how  you  can  reverse  the 
instrument  and  present  a  pigmy.  None  should  know  better 
than  you  how  important  it  is,  especially  in  this  period  of  pro- 
gress and  of  reformation,  not  to  be  carried  from  the  even 
balance  of  justice  and  fairness.  Progress  and  reformation,  after 
all,  are  practical  matters,  only  to  be  accomplished  by  practical 
men,  and  there  are  no  more  unsafe  guides  to  them,  than  the 
reformers  by  trade,  the  envious  drones  of  society,  who  are 
heard  at  such  times,  with  a  great  beating  of  drums  and  sound- 
ing of  trumpets,  proclaiming  that  they  are  the  men,  and  that 
wisdom  will  die  with  them.  To  me,  one  of  the  cardinal  points 
of  attraction  about  the  Democratic  party,  is  its  freedom  from 
cant  and  hypocrisy.    {Applause.)    Indeed  it  is  this  which  has 


12 


enabled  our  party  to  survive  and  triumph  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people,  who  detest  and  despise  shams.  Catholic  as  the  Demo- 
cratic party  is,  there  is  no  room  within  it  for  these.  No;  the 
verdict  of  the  people  has  been  pronounced  for  honesty  and 
sincerity  in  politics.     Let  us  see  to  it  that  the  verdict  is  heeded. 

And  now,  my  friends,  what  are  some  of  the  issues  of  the  near 
political  future  of  our  country,  that  are  clearly  in  sight?  Not 
many  weeks  ago  there  was  given  in  this  very  room,  a  splendid 
farewell  to  that  greatest  of  the  philosophers  of  modern  times, 
who,  passing  from  summit  to  summit  of  all  the  siences,  has 
dealt  with  the  phenomena  of  political  organization.  Prof. 
Youmans  fitly  arranged  in  New  York  the  triumph  of  one  whose 
elevation  has  been  so  single-minded,  whose  fame  has  been  so 
unsullied,  and  whose  bearing  in  success  has  been  so  undisturbed. 
How  complete  the  triumphal  procession  was!  Mr.  Evarts  and 
Mr.  Schurz  as  postillions;  Profs.  Fiske,  Marsh  and  Sumner  as 
the  dashing  outriders.  Among  them  all.  Herbert  Spencer's 
flaming  chariot  was  so  guided  as  to  shave  and  yet  save  the 
altars  and  the  shrines  of  the  Puritans,  and  exhibit  to  mankind 
the  emancipated  New  Englanders  of  New  York  as  perfect 
examples  of  "  the  survival  of  the  fittest."  The  utterances  on 
that  occasion,  of  the  illustrious  man  who  has  done  so  much  to 
bring  the  laws  and  the  phenomena  of  all  the  sciences  into 
accord,  suggest  one  plainly  coining  issue  in  our  American  poli- 
tics. In  giving  a  glimpse  of  the  idea  which  w  ill  inspire  the 
completion  of  his  quarter  of  a  century's  task,  when  he  crowns 
the  "  Data  of  Ethics"  with  the  Principles  of  Ethics  by  exhib- 
iting a  better  adjustment  of  labor — individual  and  political — 
and  a  more  equitable  enjoyment  of  the  results  of  that  labor, 
Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  in  allusion  to  this,  our  day  of  active 
industrial  progress  in  America,  said  something  like  this  :  "  Every- 
one knows  that  to  be  a  successful  warrior  was  the  highest  aim 
among  all  ancient  people  of  note,  as  it  is  still  among  many 
barbarous  peoples.  We  have  changed  all  that  in  modern  civi- 
lized societies,  especially  in  England,  and  still  more  in  America. 
With  the  decline  of  militant  activity  and  the  growth  of  indus- 
trial activity,  the  occupations  once  disgraceful  have  become 
honorable.  The  duty  to  work  has  taken  the  place  of  the  duty 
to  fight ;  and  in  the  one  case,  as  in  the  other,  the  ideal  of  life 
has  become  so  well  established  that  scarcely  any  dream  of 


T3 


questioning  it.  Practically,  business  has  been  substituted  for 
war  as  the  purpose  of  existence.  The  modern  ideal  is  ap- 
propriate to  ages  in  which  conquest  of  the  earth  and  sub- 
jection of  the  powers  of  nature  to  human  use  are  the  pre- 
dominant need."  Therein,  I  think  we  may,  if  we  will  but  listen, 
learn  the  true  key-note  of  that  music  of  the  recent  election. 
(Applause?) 

The  issues  of  the  political  future  of  our  America  are  to  be 
the  issues  formed  and  shaped,  not  by  passion  and  by  the  sword, 
but  by  economic  forces.  What  shall  be  the  legal  relation  of 
the  State  to  labor,  in  all  its  varied  departments.  When  and 
why  shall  the  government  at  Washington  interfere  in  matters 
of  individual  industry,  of  production,  and  the  distribution  of 
products  among  consumers  ?  When  and  why  shall  the  state 
meddle  with  manufacturers  competing  for  the  supply  of  the 
market  ?  Can  the  state  safely  and  wisely  interfere  with  the 
conditions  under  which  citizens  of  differing  mental,  moral,  and 
physical  fibre  shall  compete  with  one  another  in  the  industrial 
struggles  of  life  ?  The  years  of  civil  war,  the  methods  of  war,  the 
systems  and  quantity  of  taxation  enforced  by  war,  the  special 
regulations  of  war,  have  for  us  happily  passed,  and  peace  has 
again  come  to  us.  Theories  of  an  omniscient  and  all-prevailing 
central  military  government  maybe  beneficent,  and  benevolent, 
perhaps — though  I  don't  believe  it — in  Russia  or  Germany  or 
France,  or  even  in  England,  now  that  England  seems  bent  on 
going  into  partnership  with  the  great  fighting  powers  of  Europe, 
in  the  dreary  business  of  military  imperialism.  Such  theories  can 
bring  only  ruin  and  misery  to  democratic  America.  {Applause?) 
Instead  of  increasing  the  scope  of  the  functions  of  government, 
it  is  the  duty  and  aim,  as  I  understand,  of  the  Democratic  party 
to  reduce  the  number  of  those  functions,  which  our  civil  war 
created  and  we  still  keep  up.  The  fireside,  town,  county,  and 
state  rule  of  the  people,  must  cease  to  be  overridden  at  Wash- 
ington or  at  Albany.  {Applause?)  An  industrial  type  of  society, 
such  as  our  own  is  to  be,  and  as  free  as  ours  will  be  from  foreign 
enemies,  if  our  diplomatic  affairs  are  wisely  and  honestly 
managed,  has  little  need  of  the  intermeddling  of  a  central 
government  at  Washington,  excepting  so  far  as  it  may  be 
necessary  to  preserve  and  maintain  for  each  state,  and  for  the 
people  of  each  state,  the  right  to  labor  and  to  enjoy  the  fruits 


»4 

of  their  labor,  so  long  as  they  do  not  interfere  with  the  similar 
rights  of  the  people  of  every  other  state  of  the  Union. 

Many  of  you  who  are  here  to-night  are  lawyers,  familiar  with 
the  doings  of  the  Federal  courts.  You  have  seen  the  projects 
that  are  now  before  Congress  to  greatly  and  immediately  enlarge 
the  number  of  the  Federal  judges  in  the  several  Federal  cir- 
cuits. The  project  is  looked  upon  by  many  of  the  wisest  law- 
yers in  each  political  party  as  dangerous,  not  only  to  the 
authority,  dignity  and  welfare  of  the  high  and  important  tribu- 
nal at  Washington,  but  very  dangerous  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  judicial  systems  of  the  several  States.  The  existing  force 
of  Federal  judges  may  be  inadequate  for  the  work  which  the 
exigencies  of  civil  war  thrust  upon  them.  But,  before  there  is 
legislation  to  increase  the  number  of  the  Federal  judges,  may 
it  not  be  well  to  have  a  candid  and  penetrating  inquiry  in  the 
next  Congress,  by  a  Democratic  Judiciary  Committee  of  the 
House,  to  ascertain  whether  or  not  the  legislation  which  has 
increased  the  jurisdiction  and  work  of  the  Federal  courts  to 
the  disparagement  of  the  courts  of  the  several  States,  cannot 
be  repealed  ? 

Another  issue  which  is  just  now,  thanks  to  the  action  of  the 
Senate,  in  the  minds  of  all  of  us,  is  the  civil  service  reform. 
{Applause.)  The  only  plausible  objection  offered  to  the  reform 
of  the  civil  service,  has  its  root  in  the  enduring  necessity  of 
keeping  the  policy  and  conduct  of  the  Executive,  at  Albany  as 
well  as  at  Washington,  under  the  control  of  public  opinion. 
To  that  end  the  executive  or  the  governor,  who  is  chosen  by 
the  people,  must  have  and  preserve  the  constitutional  right  and 
power  to  remove  from  office,  at  his  pleasure,  all  those  high 
officials  who  come,  by  the  scope  of  their  offices  and  their 
authority,  directly  into  contact,  so  to  speak,  with  the  policy  of 
the  Executive.  This  consideration  may  seem  at  first  to  coun- 
teract and  impede  the  reform  of  the  civil  service.  It  in  fact 
enforces,  as  I  think,  the  necessity  of  a  true  civil  service  reform. 
If  changes  are  to  be  made  suddenly  and  sharply  in  the  course 
of  the  ship  of  state,  under  the  pressure  of  the  breezes  of  public 
opinion,  the  crew,  the  boatswains,  the  petty  officers,  the  seamen, 
must  be  trained  and  experienced  men,  each  man  knowing  his 
post,  each  man  familiar  with  his  duty.  This  is  so  true  that  for 
years  the  public  business  has  really  been  done  to  a  very  great 


15 


extent  by  a  sort  of  unrecognized  civil  service  force,  which  you 
don't  hear  much  of  in  the  papers,  but  the  existence  and  the 
efficiency  of  which  one  soon  learns,  in  practical  public  life,  to 
recognize.  However,  my  friends  I  did  not  rise  to  give  you  a 
political  lecture.  That  would  be  a  curious  piece  of  presumption, 
and  a  poor  return  for  your  great  kindness  and  good  will.  I 
rose  only  to  thank  you  for  showing  me  how  deep  and  real  your 
interest  is  in  the  work  which  lies  before  us  all.  [Applause?) 

The  Chairman. — I  now  ask  you  to  listen  to  several  letters 
which  the  committee  has  received  from  prominent  Democrats, 
expressing  their  regret  at  not  being  able  to  join  with  us  on 
this  festive  occasion. 

Mr.  Nelson  J.  Waterbury,  Jr.,  then  read  the  following  letters 
from  gentlemen  to  whom  invitations  had  been  extended : 

LETTER  FROM  GOVERNOR  CLEVELAND. 

Buffalo,  December  26,  1882. 
Nelson  JV  Waterbury,  Jr.,  and  others,  Committee,  &c. 

Gentlemen  :  I  regret  to  be  obliged  to  decline  the  invitation 
to  be  present  on  the  30th  inst.  at  a  dinner  to  be  given  to 
Hon.  Perry  Belmont. 

My  engagements,  consequent  upon  my  early  assuming  the 
duties  of  the  office  of  Governor,  positively  forbid  my  being 
present  on  the  occasion  referred  to  in  your  very  complimentary 
letter. 

Yours  very  truly, 

GROVER  CLEVELAND. 

LETTER  FROM  GOVERNOR  PATTISON. 

Philadelphia,  December  23,  1882. 

Messrs.  N.  J.  WATERBURY,  Jr.,  HERMANN  OELRICHS,  GREN- 

ville  Kane,  Robert  Townsend  and  Lewis  H.  Sayre, 
M.  D.,  Committee. 

Gentlemen  :  I  have  the  pleasure  to  acknowledge  your  friendly 
communication,  inviting  me  to  join  a  number  of  younger 
Democrats  of  your  city,  at  a  dinner  tendered  to  the  Hon.  Perry 


i6 


Belmont,  at  Dclmonico's,  Saturday,  the  30th  inst.,  at  7  o'clock 
P.  M.  Regretting  that  other  engagements  will  prevent  me 
from  being  present  to  respond  to  the  proposed  toast  to  the 
Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  and  to  pay  my  respects  in 
person  to  the  gifted  and  popular  gentleman  you  arc  to  honor, 
I  remain,  believe  me,  yours  very  respectfully, 

ROBERT  E.  I'ATTISON. 

LETTER  FROM  LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR  BLACK. 

YORK,  December  26,  1882. 

Gentlemen  :  Nothing  that  I  can  imagine,  would  give  me 
greater  pleasure  than  to  be  with  you,  on  the  evening  of  the 
30th,  to  do  honor  to  Mr.  Belmont. 

It  is  not  because  Mr.  Belmont  is  a  young  man,  nor  yet 
because  he  is  an  able  man,  that  I  would  especially  delight  to 
mingle  my  applause  with  yours  on  that  pleasant  occasion,  but 
because  he  is  indeed  a  Democrat,  holding  fast  the  pure  faith, 
and  neither  afraid  nor  ashamed  to  proclaim  it.  Mr.  Belmont 
did  some  rare  good  work  in  Congress — work  requiring  courage 
and  capacity  of  a  high  order — but  it  was  the  matter  and  the 
manner  of  his  recent  canvass  which  most  attracted  my  admira- 
tion. Planting  himself  upon  a  body  of  doctrines  as  pure  as  if 
they  had  been  formulated  anew  by  the  pen  of  Jefferson  himself, 
he  followed  the  logic  out  to  legitimate  consequences  in  every 
direction.  This  is  the  way  and  the  life.  It  is  the  end  of  sham 
and  of  fraud  in  American  politics.  It  is  high  time  that  we 
learn  again  the  lesson  which  our  fathers  learned  so  dearly — 
that  it  is  only  in  the  jealous  enforcement  of  the  limitations  of 
the  Constitution,  that  we  are  to  find  relief  from  the  abuses  of 
Federalism,  from  excessive  taxation,  from  class  legislation,  from 
monopoly,  from  ring  rule,  from  the  perversion  of  the  civil  service 
and  the  manifold  corruptions  of  Federalist  Republican  govern- 
ment. This  old  fight,  bequeathed  from  sire  to  son,  Mr.  Belmont 
made  again  in  his  district,  and  that  he  won  it  easily,  gracefully 
and  overwhelmingly,  is  even  less  a  testimony  to  his  own  manli- 
ness and  political  integrity,  than  it  is  to  the  virtue  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  people.  We  may  here  see  the  clear  evidence  that 
we  have  only  to  be  right,  that  is  to  be  Democratic,  in  the  sense 
that  the  fathers  of  the  party  were  Democratic,  to  be  completely 


17 

successful.  When  we  find  a  leader  who  carries  a  shield  as  broad 
as  Jefferson's,  we  may  gather  behind  it  with  a  perfect  assurance 
that  it  will  cover  us  in  every  emergency. 

I  would  like  also  to  have  spoken  in  response  to  the  toast 
which  you  have  kindly  set  over  against  my  name.  Pennsylvania 
has  borne  some  reproach  among  her  sister  commonwealths. 
But  she  will  bear  it  no  longer.  The  Democracy  of  this  State 
is  sound  to  the  core.  We  may  point  to  the  man  we  have  elected 
Governor,  and  to  the  stainless  record  of  his  previous  life,  with 
as  much  confidence  in  the  future  as  even  you  can  feel,  when  you 
look  up  to  the  pure  banner  which  went  before  your  190,000 
majority. 

You  may  be  sure  from  the  foregoing  that  only  the  most 
imperative  engagements  prevent  my  acceptance  of  your  very 
kind  invitation. 

I  remain,  gentlemen,  very  truly  yours, 

CHAUNCEY  F.  BLACK. 

To  Messrs.  Waterbury,  Oelrichs,  Kane,  Townsend  and 
Sayre,  Committee,  &c. 

The  Chairman. — I  now  ask  you  to  drink  to  the  following 
toast : 

PENNSYLVANIA. — In  former  years  side  by  side  with 
New  York  in  the  battles  and  triumphs  of  the  Demo- 
cratic cause  :  we  compete  with  her  in  honorable  rivalry, 
and  rejoice  in  her  redemption  from  the  wrong  and 
th.alldom  of  "  boss  "  rule. 

I  have  the  honor  to  introduce  to  you,  as  the  gentleman  who 
will  respond  to  this  sentiment,  Mr.  W.  U.  HENSEL,  the 
Chairman  of  the  Pennsylvania  Democratic  State  Committee. 
Mr.  Hensel  will  respond  not  only  for  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 
but  also  for  the  Press ;  and  we  all  know  what  a  power  in  the 
land  the  Press  is. 

MR.  W.  U.  HENSEL'S  SPEECH. 

I  presume,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  you  mean  the  Democratic 
State  of  Pennsylvania.  (Lang] iter  and  applause^)     On  the 
morning  (and  very  early  in  the  morning)  after  the  election, 
2 


i8 


whose  results,  in  part  at  least,  you  celebrate  to-night,  I  met  a 
gentleman  with  whom  I  had  the  pleasure  and  privilege  to  be 
associated  in  the  management  of  the  Democratic  campaign. 
He  had  a  very  rueful  countenance.  I  spoke  of  our  triumph, 
and  asked  him  if  he  did  not  feel  happy  over  the  40,000  majority 
for  the  State  ticket  in  Pennsylvania,  over  the  election  of  a 
dozen  Congressmen,  and  of  two  dozen  majority  in  the  Lower 
House  of  our  state  legislature.  He  admitted  that  there  \\a* 
some  cause  for  exultation  in  it  ;  but  said  that  when  he  heard  the 
news  of  the  190,000  majority  for  the  Democratic  ticket  in  New 
York,  he  felt  ashamed  of  the  result  of  the  efforts  which  had 
been  made  by  the  Democracy  in  Pennsylvania.  And  I  admit, 
Mr.  Chairman,  that  I  went  home  from  the  Democratic  head- 
quarters, with  somewhat  of  a  feeling  of  humility,  in  the  presence 
of  the  fact  that  Texas  had  sent  the  Democratic  banner  to  the 
Empire  State.  (Applause.)  Hut  the  pressing  kindness  of  your 
invitation,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  you  are  met  here  to-night 
to  celebrate  the  general  democratic  victory  throughout  the 
country,  to  celebrate  the  redemption  of  your  state  and  of  mine 
from  corrupt  "  boss  "  rule,  and  to  do  special  honor  to  your  guest 
of  to-night,  who  most  fitly,  in  the  popular  branch  of  the  Federal 
Government,  represents  the  Young  Democracy,  not  only  of  New 
York  but  of  the  whole  country  {applause ),  is,  I  assure  you, 
enough  to  relieve  me  from  my  embarrassment.  Besides,  I  may 
say  here  and  now,  the  Democracy  of  Pennsylvania  are  under 
special  obligations  to  the  guest  of  this  evening;  for  he,  alone,  of 
all  the  Democrats  outside  of  Pennsylvania,  manifested  a  practical 
and  substantial  interest  in  the  success  of  our  candidates 
{applause) ;  and,  representing  the  Democratic  organization 
during  that  canvass,  I  feel  it  no  less  a  duty  than  a  privilege  to 
come  here  to-night,  for  the  purpose  of  bearing  grateful  testi- 
mony to  that  fact.  {Applause.) 

It  was,  as  you  perhaps  know,  the  privilege  of  the  Democratic 
party  in  Pennsylvania  to  specially  illustrate  the  presence,  the 
force,  the  significance  and  the  influence  of  the  Young  Democracy 
in  the  politics  of  the  country.  To  the  accusation  made  by  our 
opponents,  that  our  candidate  for  Governor  was  a  young  man, 
we  made  reply  that,  in  the  language  of  a  distinguished  English 
statesman,  we  neither  undertook  to  palliate  nor  to  deny  the 
atrocious  crime  which  was  charged  upon  him.    We  were  content 


*9 


to  answer  back  that,  in  every  stage  of  the  world's  history,  it 
had  been  left  to  young  men  to  demonstrate  that,  in  all  the 
activities  of  life,  the  vigor  of  youth  was  as  necessary  as  the 
wisdom  of  old  age.  (Applause?)  We  said  that  our  candidate 
for  Governor  (like  some  of  your  candidates)  was  no  younger 
than  was  David  when  he  met  and  slew  the  stalwart  Philistine 
"  boss  "  ;  that  he  was  little  younger  than  Paul  when  he  preached 
the  doctrine  of  political  reform  to  the  degenerate  Philippians  ; 
that  he  was  older  than  Alexander  when  he  had  conquered  all 
the  worlds  within  his  reach  ;  that  he  was  older  than  Napoleon 
when  he  halted  his  advancing  legions  in  the  shadows  of  the 
Pyramids ;  that  he  was  older  than  Pitt  when  he  became  the 
Prime  Minister  of  England  ;  that  he  was  scarcely  younger  than 
Thomas  Jefferson  when  he  wrote  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence ;  that  he  was  older  than  Alexander  Hamilton  when  he 
became  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  that  he  was  nearly  as 
old  as  William  Henry  Seward  when  he  became  the  Governor  of 
New  York ;  that  he  was  older  than  Webster,  Clay  and  Calhoun 
when  they  bounded  into  the  arena  of  political  debate  ;  that  he 
was  older  than  Perry  Belmont  "  when  he  marched  down  the 
halls  of  the  "American  Congress  "  and  gallantly  touched  his  lance 
upon  the  shield  of  his  adversary,  and  the  "  plumed  knight  "  of 
Maine  was  unhorsed  [applause) ;  that  he  is  six  years  older  than 
when  he  began  his  career  as  reform  Comptroller  of  the  City  of 
Philadelphia ;  and  he  will  be  four  years  older  than  he  is  now 
when  he  will  have  finished  the  first  term  of  a  reform  adminis- 
tration, which  will  fall  upon  the  degenerate  politics  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, as  the  summer  showrer  falls  upon  the  parched  and 
perishing  flower  of  the  field.  (Applause?) 

Let  me  not  be  misunderstood  as  holding  in  light  esteem  the 
precepts  and  practices  of  those  illustrious  men  who,  having 
founded  our  free  institutions,  founded  the  Democratic  party 
to  protect  and  to  preserve  them.  Far  be  from  me  any  such 
thought.  I  have  somewhere  read  that  a  party  can  only  live 
on  its  traditions  when  it  lives  up  to  those  traditions.  If  the 
Democratic  party,  under  false  or  misguided  leadership,  has  ever 
strained  the  rights  of  the  States,  if  it  has  ever  denied  the  just 
powers  of  the  General  Government,  if  it  has  ever  allowed  the 
liberties  of  the  People  to  be  usurped,  it  has  done  it  in  deroga- 
tion of  the  traditions  of  a  pure  Democratic  faith,  which  demands 


20 


that  the  equilibrium  of  these  three  principles  shall  be  maintained, 
as  essential  to  the  preservation  of  a  right  political  system.  <  Ap- 
plause.) If  it  has  ever  given  countenance  to  a  false  and  falla- 
cious financial  system,  it  has  done  it  in  depreciation  of  the 
Jacksonian  standard  of  hard  money  and  honest  money.  If 
it  has  ever  submitted  to  inquisitorial,  oppressive  and  unjust 
taxation,  it  has  done  it  in  violation  of  the  traditional  Democratic 
pledge  to  maintain  the  simple  system  of  taxation  which  was 
established  by  the  fathers  of  the  Republic,  who  were  identical 
with  the  fathers  of  the  Democratic  party.  (Applause.)  If  it 
has  ever  submitted  to,  endorsed  or  countenanced  wasteful  and 
plundering  taxation,  it  has  made  a  departure  from  Democratic 
traditions  to  which  we  here  to-night  pledge  anew  our  fealty. 
If  it  has  ever  favored  the  pretensions  of  chartered  corporations 
to  be  above  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land,  governing  all  else 
within  its  borders,  it  has  done  it  in  derogation  of  the  Democratic 
principle  that  in  the  people  is  lodged  all  power  (applause) ;  that 
the  creature  cannot  be  above  the  creator;  and  that  in  politics, 
as  in  physics,  it  is  an  abnormal  condition  of  affairs  in  which  the 
stream  rises  above  its  fountain  head.  An  ancient  wrote  upon 
his  breast-plate:  uEt  AmieoriuuA  to  show  that  all  that  was  his, 
was  his  friends'.  Upon  the  hilt  of  its  sword,  and  upon  its  buckler 
alike,  the  Democratic  party  writes:  '7:7  Populi"  to  show  that 
its  cause  is  the  cause  of  the  people.  It  is  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes,  I  think,  who  has  said  that  America  has  two  social 
ideals:  the  man  on  horse-back,  and  the  man  in  his  shirt-sleeves. 
If  that  alternative  is  ever  presented  to  us,  then  the  Democratic 
party  is  with  the  man  in  his  shirt-sleeves.  {Applause}) 

The  Democratic  party  of  Pennsylvania,  like  the  Democratic 
party  of  New  York,  and  like  the  Democratic  party  of  the  whole 
country,  holds  in  grateful  memory  the  four  generations  of  illus- 
trious men  who,  in  the  history  of  this  Republic,  have  illustrated 
the  saving  strength  of  Democratic  principles  for  the  preservation 
of  Democratic  institutions.  Far  distant  be  the  day  when  the 
Democratic  party  of  New  York,  the  Democratic  party  of  Penn- 
sylvania, or  the  Democratic  party  of  the  country,  shall  turn  a 
deaf  ear  to  the  philosophic  patriotism  and  the  calm  conservatism 
of  such  men  as  Horatio  Seymour  {applause),  or  belittle  the 
intrepid  zeal  and  heroic  abnegation  of  such  men  as  Samuel  J. 
Tilden.    (Applause^)    By  the  side  of  those  cast  in  that  large 


21 


mold,  the  Young  Democracy  may  well  feel  themselves  dwarfed, 
and  in  their  wider  experience  we  Hotspurs  may  learn  to  temper 
our  blades  for  the  fight  that  is  before  us.  But  no  men  better 
than  these  and  such  as  they  recognize,  the  quickening  impulse, 
which  has  been  given  to  the  Democratic  party,  by  the  advent 
into  its  councils  of  men  who  have  before  them  a  broadening 
leadership,  when  they,  in  the  couse  of  nature,  must  be  gathered 
to  the  fathers. 

I  believe,  with  your  Governor-elect,  that  in  the  application  of 
traditional  Democratic  principles  to  existing  political  evils,  may 
be  found  an  adequate  remedy ;  and  I  believe  that,  for  that 
application,  the  people  of  New  York,  and  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  honest  people  of  all  the  country,  are  looking  with  confidence, 
and  with  hope,  to  the  Young  Democracy.  (Applause?)  Right 
fitly,  it  seems  to  me,  the  Democratic  party  of  this  country 
(which  is,  and  ought  to  be,  and  always  will  be,  while  it  is  true 
to  itself,  the  party  of  local  self-government)  is  coming  into 
power  through  the  acquisition  of  control  in  the  various  State 
governments  ;  and  it  is  in  the  honest  exercise  of  that  control 
that  we  may  best  hope  to  gain  control  of  our  federal  affairs. 
The  election  of  a  president  is  a  matter  of  the  states,  and  not 
of  the  nation  ;  and  I  repeat  that  it  is  by  the  honest  exercise  of 
the  control  which  we  have  obtained  in  the  states,  and  by  the 
redemption  of  the  pledges  made  by  us,  and  by  reason  of  which  we 
have  regained  power — and  by  these  means  alone — that  we  can 
hope  to  carry  the  country  in  1884.  If  this  meeting,  this  rejoic- 
ing over  the  victory  won,  this  anticipation  of  the  victory  that 
is  to  come,  shall  secure  such  a  policy  as  this  for  your  State  and 
for  mine,  under  the  Democratic  reform  administrations  now 
elected,  then,  in  this  celebration, 

On  this  green  bank,  by  this  swift  stream, 
We  set  to-day,  a  votive  stone, 

That  memory  may  our  deeds  redeem, 
When  like  our  sires,  our  sons  are  gone. 

The  Chairman. — I  now  propose  to  you  our  Sister  State  of 
Connecticut  : 

Once  more  in  the  line  of  Democratic  States,  if  the 
party  which  in  1876  stole  the  Executive  power  of  the 
United  States,  shall  repeat  the  damnable  crime  within 


22 


her  limits,  and  install  in  office  those  whom  the  people 
have  rejected,  the  indignant  voice  of  the  American 
people  will  consign  it  to  an  endless  exile  from  power. 

It  was  expected  that  the  Hon.  THOMAS  M.  WALLER,  the 
governor  elect  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  would  have 
responded  to  this  toast ;  but  by  a  singular  coincidence  he  is 
retained  at  home  by  the  very  cause  which  this  toast  has  alluded 
to;  and  I  beg  you  will  give  your  attention  to  a  letter  which 
has  just  been  received  from  him  pertaining  thereto. 

LETTER  FROM  OOYEKNOR  WALLER. 

NEW  LONDON,  December  29,  1882. 

Gentlemen  :  I  hoped  until  this  morning  to  be  able  to  enjoy 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  and  your  guest  at  the  dinner 
to-morrow,  but  circumstances  have  occurred  that  render  my 
absence  from  home  impossible.  I  regret  this  very  much,  for  I 
desired  in  person  to  pay  my  respects  to  Mr.  Belmont,  and  to 
express  to  him  my  admiration  of  the  courage  and  ability  he- 
has  shown  in  his  public  life.  I  assure  you  and  your  friends  of 
my  sympathy  with  every  effort  in  favor  of  better  political 
methods. 

Very  truly  yours, 

THOS.  M.  WALLER; 
NELSON  J.  Waterbury,  Jr.,  and  others,  Committee. 

The  Chairman.  —I  have  the  honor  to  propose  to  you,  as  the 
next  toast,  the  plucky  little  State  of  New  Jersey: 

Ever  faithful,  we  honor  the  gallantry  that  conquers 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that,  by  iniquitous  apportionments, 
two  Republicans  are  made  equal  in  political  power  to 
three  Democrats.  Her  people  have  again  illustrated 
the  proverbial  vigor  of  "  Jersey  justice." 

I  have  the  honor  to  call  upon  the  Hon.  Bayard  Stockton, 
who  inherits  a  distinguished  right  to  speak  for  the  Democracy 
of  that  State. 


n 


REMARKS  BY  MR.  STOCKTON. 

Mr.  Chairman  :  It  has  been  said  that  there  have  been  grave 
doubts  whether  New  Jersey  was  created  for  any  beneficent 
purpose.  A  modern  philosopher,  however,  claims  to  have 
found  the  solution  of  this  problem.  He  holds  that  New 
Jersey  is  a  physical  necessity  to  keep  Philadelphia  and  New 
York  from  quarreling.  {Laughter?)  In  this  view,  my  position 
here  to-night  is  peculiarly  important  ;  and  I  shall  try  this 
evening  to  perform  the  duties  which  may  devolve  upon  me  in 
that  connection,  with  the  impartiality  which  should  ever  be 
characteristic  of  the  peace-maker. 

On  occasions  like  this,  when  men  meet  together  to  testify  to 
honor  due  to  manly  courage  and  straightforward  honesty  in 
political  life.  New  Jersey  has  never  neglected  an  opportunity  to 
add  her  laurel  to  the  civic  wreath  ;  and  in  the  good  old  fashioned 
way  she  speaks.  She  has  kept  the  faith,  and  the  traditions  of 
the  Democratic  party  ;  and  she  claims  to-night  that  no  higher 
title  can  be  given  to  any  man,  than  the  name  of  a  consistent 
Democrat.  {Applause?)  The  young  men,  too,  have  always 
been  specially  favored  in  my  State.  Many  of  her  responsible 
positions  to-day  are  held  by  young  men  ;  and  in  the  political 
contest  just  ended  there  was  no  influence  so  much  felt  as  that 
of  the  young  democracy. 

We  Jerseymen  are  proud  of  our  little  state.  Small  in 
territory  and  in  population,  we  are  none  the  less  proud  of  her 
history,  and  of  her  position  in  the  sisterhood  of  states.  We 
are  proud  of  her  rapidly  increasing  population,  of  the  wealth 
of  her  agricultural  lands,  of  the  development  of  her  manufac- 
turing interests.  We  are  still  more  proud  when  we  feel  that 
justice  is  secure  within  her  borders  ;  that  the  greatest  criminal 
as  well  as  the  least,  will  meet  with  his  just  deserts.  We  are 
proud  of  the  fact  that  for  thirty  years  past  she  has  had  but 
three  Governors  who  were  not  democrats  {applause)  ;  and  two 
of  those  were  elected  on  Fusion  tickets.  She  is  outrageously 
gerrymandered  ;  but  the  popular  vote  in  the  Assembly  Districts 
shows,  year  after  year,  the  old  fashioned  democratic  majority. 
Year  after  year,  in  a  steady  going  way,  she  has  cast  her  Elec- 
toral votes  for  Democrats.  In  i860  she  voted  for  Douglas.  In 
1864  she  was  one  of  the  three  sisters  who  voted  for  McClellan. 
In  1868  her  choice  fell  upon  that  Nestor  of  American  politics, 


24 


Horatio  Seymour.  (Applause.)  In  1N72  she  hesitated  long 
between  two  Republicans  ;  she  remembered  however  that  Grant 
had  once  voted  the  Democratic  ticket,  and  she  gave  him  her 
support.  {Applause.)  In  [876  she  cast  her  votes  with  honest 
pride  for  Samuel  J.  Tilden  [applause);  and  she  stood  ready, 
staff  in  hand,  to  take  what  measures  seemed  best  to  give  her 
votes  their  full  effect.  In  1880  she  stood  alone,  among  the 
Eastern  States,  in  her  allegiance  to  the  Hero  of  Gettysburgh — 
stemming  such  a  tide  of  money  a-  had  never  before  been  seen 
in  a  political  campaign.  The  Democratic  party  has  this  year 
passed  through  a  hard-fought  battle  to  a  great  and  overwhelm- 
ing victory;  and  New  Jersey  now,  as  in  the  past,  is  in  the  van. 
From  one  end  to  the  other  of  this  broad  land  rose  the  cry  for 
reform — the  first  notes  of  the  passing  knell  of  the  Republican 
party.  The  voice  of  the  people  took  up  the  cry  against  fraud 
and  corruption  ;  and  the  whole  heart  of  the  country  throbbed  in 
unison  with  the  impulse  of  a  grand  idea.  But  the  final  victory 
is  not  yet  won.  Pride  of  place  and  lust  of  power  are  still  battling 
against  the  life  of  the  Republic  ;  but  through  the  fight,  and 
when  the  clash  of  the  strife  is  over,  you  will  hear  us  from  across 
the  Hudson  say,  "  We  speak  the  same  words  now  as  ever." 

Perhaps  it  would  be  proper  for  me  to  remind  our  honored 
guest  that  the  nearer  he  approached  to  Jersey  soil,  the  larger 
were  his  majorities.  The  light  which  illuminates  my  side  of  the 
Hudson  is  not  confined  by  a  protective  tariff. 

Through  such  a  pathway  has  the  Democratic  party  led  us  in 
the  past ;  what  shall  be  the  future  of  that  party ;  and  what  shall 
be  the  future  of  the  whole  country?  Does  not  that  future  rest 
entirely  with  the  young  democracy?  Will  we  not  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  the  advancement  of  our  country  along  the  path 
upon  which  she  has  started  ?  Corruption  gangrenes  our  govern- 
ment. If  the  knife  be  not  now  applied  by  us,  it  may  soon  be 
too  late.  Within  a  few  short  hours  old  1882  will  have  passed 
from  our  lives,  with  all  its  promise  gone,  and  all  its  achievement 
recorded.  Will  not  the  bells  of  1883  take  up  the  tone  echoed 
from  the  dying  year?    Will  not  they — 

"  Ring  out  a  slowly  dying  cause, 

And  ancient  forms  of  party  strife  ; 
Ring  in  the  nobler  modes  of  life, 

With  sweeter  manners,  purer  laws  ?" 


-'5 


The  Chairman, — I  have  next  to  propose  to  you  a  toast  to 
the  Empire  State  : 

New  York. — Our  own  love  and  pride.  We  rejoice 
with  full  hearts  in  the  unparalleled  revolution  by  which 
her  people  have  shown  their  inextinguishable  devotion 
to  honesty  and  sound  principles.  Planting  herself 
upon  the  strong  base  of  an  honest  government  by 
honest  men,  she  is  there  to  stay  and  to  revive  the 
glories  that  she  garnered  under  the  lead  of  Clinton, 
Livingston  and  Tompkins  ;  of  Van  Buren,  Wright  and 
Marcy ;  of  Seymour,  Tilden  and  Robinson. 

It  is  with  a  feeling  of  peculiar  satisfaction  that  I  have  the 
honor  to  introduce  to  you  the  Hon.  David  B.  Hill,  Lieutenant- 
Governor  elect  of  New  York  by  196,000  majority.  {Cheers  and 
Applause}) 

SPEECH   OF  LIEUT.-GOV.  HILL. 

Gentlemen  : — Instead  of  being  asked  to  respond  to-night  to  a 
toast  in  behalf  of  our  own  great  state,  I  had  hoped  that  the 
chairman  would  say  to  me,  as  the  Irish  judge  said  to  a  prisoner  : 
"  What  we  want  of  you,  sir,  is  silence,  and  very  little  of  it,  too," 
(Laughter.)  A  young  orator,  rising  to  deliver  a  Fourth- 
of-July  oration  somewhere  out  West,  began  by  saying,  in  a 
loud  and  confident  tone,  "  My  friends,  this  beautiful  country 
that  we  see  all  around  us  to-day,  was,  a  few  years  ago,  part  and 
parcel  of  a  howling  wilderness."  He  then  forgot  his  speech, 
and  stammered  over  again,  "  my  friends,  this  beautiful  country 
that  we  see  all  around  us  to-day,  was,  a  few  years  ago,  part  and 
parcel  of  a  howling  wilderness."  Then  he  broke  down,  and 
abruptly  terminated  his  speech  by  saying,  "  and  I  would  to  God 
it  had  remained  so."  (Laughter.)  Permit  me  to  observe  that 
a  few  years  ago  our  State  of  New  York  was  also  a  howl- 
ing wilderness,  and  if  one  half  the  bad  things  that  are  said  about 
it  by  the  newspapers  and  by  some  of  the  reformers  of  the  day 
were  true,  it  would  be  better  it  had  remained  so.  The  original 
inhabitants  of  this  State  were  the  unlettered  Indians  of  the 
forest.    They  roved  around  the  country,  without  any  visible 


26 


means  of  support,  and  engaged  in  the  laudable  undertaking 
of  scalping  everybody  they  came  across,  clad  in  the  same  cos- 
tunic  that  Mark  Twain's  African  maiden  wore — their  beautiful 
complexion  ;  smoking  their  long  cigarettes,  and  occasionally 
hunting  in  the  wilderness  for  game.  Those  old  tribes  have 
now  nearly  all  passed  away  to  their  happy  hunting  grounds. 
A  few  of  their  successors  are  still  among  us.  The  Tammany 
tribe  have  a  wigwam  in  this  city  with  their  sachems  and  chief-, 
their  tomahawks  and  scalping  knives.  We  have  the  famous 
Tuscaroras,  of  some  local  repute,  and  we  have  the  renowned 
Half-Breeds  scattered  all  over  the  State  of  New  York.  In  fact, 
last  month  the  very  woods  were  full  of  them.  ( Applause.)  The 
Half-Breeds  are  of  a  mild  and  peaceful  disposition,  while  the 
Tammanyites  are  usually  bold,  aggressive  and  warlike.  The 
Tuscaroras  are,  I  believe,  very  nearly  extinct,  although  they 
deny  it.  The  forests  in  which  these  Indians  used  to  hunt  have 
been  cleared  away,  and  their  tents  have  given  place  to  the 
abodes  of  civilization.  The  game  which  they  used  to  hunt  has 
disappeared,  and  the  favorite  game  upon  our  streets  to-day  is 
that  of  "blind  pool"  (laughter),  which,  as  I  understand,  is 
sometimes  disastrous  to  those  who  engage  in  it.  In  the  olden 
time  they  used  to  hunt  foxes,  bears  and  deer  ;  to-day,  those  have 
all  passed  away,  although  upon  our  streets  there  may  occasion- 
ally be  seen  a  few  "bulls"  and  "bears,"  engaged  in  active  con- 
tests with  one  another.  In  the  early  history  of  this  state,  our 
fathers  were  employed  in  the  raising  of  crops  of  wheat,  corn  and 
potatoes  ;  the  crops  that  we  raise  now-a-days,  are  politicians, 
telegraph  suits  and  penal  codes ;  and  last  fall  we  began  to  pro- 
duce free  canals.  {Applause.)  During  the  last  few  years  we 
should  have  had  larger  crops  except  for  the  droughts,  and  the 
only  explanation  that  I  know  of,  for  those  droughts,  is  in 
the  fact  that  all  the  rain  that  falls  from  the  heavens,  is 
needed  and  used  by  the  "bulls"  and  "bears"  of  Wall  street, 
in  watering  the  stock  of  our  principal  corporations.  (Applause.  | 
Some  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  are  their  earnest  opposition  to  making  money  rapidly, 
their  native  modesty,  their  antipathy  to  speculation,  and  above 
all  their  unaccountable  reverence  for  the  Puritans  of  New 
England.  Nothing  so  stirs  up  the  average  New  Yorker  as  to 
hear  a  Massachusetis  man  compare  the  Boston  Common  with 


27 


our  Central  Park.  I  believe  that  it  was  a  New  Yorker  who 
said  to  a  Boston  man,  "  When  my  time  comes  to  die  I  propose 
to  go  to  your  city."  "  Ah,"  said  the  Bostonian,  "  I  am  glad  to 
know  that  you  think  so  well  of  our  city."  f*  But  that  is  not  it," 
he  replied,  "  what  I  mean  is  this,  that  I  prefer  Boston,  because 
I  know  of  no  city  which  I  can  leave  with  less  regret."  {Laughter.) 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  speak  a  word  about  the  future  of  the 
great  State  of  New  York  ;  but  a  distinguished  capitalist  testified 
last  week  that  it  was  dangerous  to  deal  in  "  futures,"  and  I  will 
therefore  forbear.  I  have  somewhere  read  a  legend  like  this : 
There  once  lived  an  old  baron,  the  battlements  of  whose  castle 
reared  their  peaks  among  Scotia's  lofty  highlands.  The  old 
baron  determined  to  secure  for  himself  rich  and  peculiar  music, 
which  should  cheer  his  lonely  hours.  For  that  purpose  he 
obtained  some  long  iron  bars,  and  placed  them  upon  the  tops 
of  two  adjacent  cliffs ;  and  he  hoped  that,  when  the  winds 
should  play  upon  those  bars,  they  would,  like  a  mighty  harp, 
discourse  rich  and  peculiar  music.  The  morning  breeze,  fragrant 
with  the  breath  of  evening  flowers,  played  upon  them,  yet  they 
gave  forth  no  sound.  The  noon-tide  air  and  the  evening  zephyrs 
played  upon  them,  yet  no  sound  came  back.  But  when  the 
midnight  tempest,  in  its  might  and  fury,  swept  down  upon  the 
valley  and  smote  the  mighty  chords,  then  music,  sweet  and 
melodious  as  that  of  an  yEolian  lyre,  yet  strong  and  full-voiced 
as  the  trumpet  of  an  archangel,  came  forth  from  that  iron  harp. 
As  the  old  philosopher  heard  its  music,  it  seemed  unto  his 
ravished  senses  like  the  music  of  the  spheres.  For  weary  days, 
and  months,  and  years,  did  the  heroes  who  survived  the  American 
Revolution,  labor  to  place  upon  our  peaks  the  far  extended 
chords  ;  fastening  their  northern  extremity  upon  the  snow-capped 
mountain-tops,  and  making  the  lines  secure,  at  the  South,  upon 
hills  fanned  by  summer  breezes,  and  fragrant  with  the  perfume 
of  tropical  fruits  and  flowers.  In  1789  the  instrument  with  its 
thirteen  chords  was  completed.  Then  the  swift,  free  winds  of 
heaven  poured  over  the  continent  upon  our  mighty  harp,  and 
it  gave  forth  melodies,  strange,  grand  and  wonderful.  One  of 
those  chords  represented  the  grand  State  of  New  York,  with 
the  motto  Excelsior "  engraved  upon  it, — the  largest, 
strongest,  best  and  most  enduring  of  them  all ;  and  that  chord 
remains  there  still,  glistening  in  the  sun,  untarnished  by  the 


28 


storm,  still  giving  forth  its  music,  at  all  times,  in  favor  of  Law 
and  Justice,  Liberty  and  Union,  one  and  inseparable.  [Af- 

plause.} 

The  growth  and  grandeur  of  this  great  state  is  a  theme 
worthy  of  the  most  gifted  pen  and  the  most  eloquent  tongue. 
I  believe  that  the  state  is  entering  upon  a  new  career  of  pros- 
perity. With  its  large  commercial  advantages,  extending  every 
day;  with  untold  wealth  at  its  command  ;  with  its  increasing 
intelligence  and  cultivation,  and  with  an  honest,  just  and 
capable  administration  of  public  affairs,  such  as  I  believe  we 
shall  have  under  Governor  Cleveland  -there  is  nothing  to  stop 
its  onward  progress.  The  late  exciting,  but  not  very  close 
election,  was  a  victory  of  the  people  and  of  principle.  It  was  a 
victory  which  seems  to  give  general  satisfaction  among  all 
parties.  It  reminds  me  of  that  story  of  the  old  lady  who  came 
to  town  as  a  funeral  procession  was  passing  by.  The  dead  man 
had  been  very  unpopular  in  his  lifetime.  She  asked  a  by-stander, 
"  What  is  this?"  He  replied  that  such  a  man  was  dead. 
"  What  was  the  complaint  ? "  she  asked.  He  replied,  "  There  is 
no  complaint,  everybody  is  satisfied."  <  Laughter.  \  The  victory 
of  a  few  weeks  ago  means  that  the  abuses  of  the  past  must  be 
reformed  ;  it  means  that  there  must  be  honesty  and  fair  dealing 
in  political  primaries  and  conventions  ;  it  means  that  all  legis- 
lation must  be  in  the  interest  of  the  people. 

New  York  has  always  taken  a  conspicuous  part  in  noble 
deeds,  upon  the  land  and  upon  the  sea.  Among  the  contests 
of  the  Revolution,  the  battle  of  Saratoga  was  nearly  as  decisive 
as  that  of  Yorktown.  One  of  the  greatest  of  our  naval  victories 
was  that  won  by  Commodore  Perry  on  Lake  Erie.  I  may  refer 
to  him  to-night  with  peculiar  gratification  and  propriety,  because 
of  a  fact  known  to  all  of  you.  It  was  the  march  of  our  own 
Seventh  Regiment  to  the  front,  during  the  last  war,  which  first 
aroused  the  enthusiasm  of  the  North  ;  and  thousands  of  the 
brave  sons  of  New  York  lost  their  lives,  and  left  their  bones 
buried  in  every  Southern  State,  from  the  Potomac  to  the  Missis- 
sippi. It  was  Governor  Seymour,  in  this  state,  who  first,  in  a 
special  message  to  the  Legislature,  in  1863,  declared  that 
the  plighted  faith  of  New  York  must  be  maintained,  and  that 
the  interest  upon  the  state  bonds  must  be  paid  in  gold  and 
silver.  {Applause?) 


29 


Upon  the  platform  on  which  the  Democratic  party  now 
stands,  and  upon  which  we  won  the  victory  in  the  late  cam- 
paign, we  may  hope  for  future  triumphs  and  for  increased  pros- 
perity. As  an  earnest  of  the  future,  I  am  rejoiced  to  find  that 
there  is  an  uprising  all  over  the  state,  of  democratic  young  men, 
who  are  coming  forward  to  take  an  active  and  honorable 
interest  in  public  affairs.  The  young  men  of  the  state  can 
make  the  future  what  they  please,  The  destinies  of  the  state 
are  in  their  hands.  There  is  no  better  field  for  their  efforts,  their 
aspirations  and  their  achievements.  New  York  can  boast  greater 
resources,  more  populous  cities,  handsomer  ladies,  more  gallant 
bachelors,  and  give  larger  majorities  than  any  other  state  in 
the  Union.  {Applause.) 

The  Chairman. — The  next  toast  will  be  responded  to  by 
Judge  FRANCIS  H.  WOODS.  He  can  speak  of  Democracy  as 
a  true  judge  of  the  article. 

The  Future  of  the  Democratic  Party.  Fi- 
delity to  the  principles  of  its  fathers ;  faith  in  the 
people  :  honesty  in  the  discharge  of  every  trust,  and  a 
steady  step  with  the  progress  of  mankind,  are  alike 
the  duty  of  Democrats,  and  the  sure  pledges  of  their 
triumph. 

REMARKS  BY  JUDGE  WOODS. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  : — Governor  Hill  very  wisely 
said,  a  few  moments  ago,  that  it  was  dangerous  to  deal  in 
"  Futures."  But,  inasmuch  as  I  have  been  engaged  in  "  futures," 
so  far  as  Democratic  successes  were  concerned,  ever  since  I  had 
the  legal  right  to  vote,  it  may  not  be  regarded  as  an  act  of  too 
much  temerity  for  me  to-night,  to  hopefully  speculate  on  the 
future  of  our  party. 

Who  can  cast  the  horoscope  of  the  future?  The  only  light 
which  can  guide  our  pathway,  is  that  which  is  cast  from  "  the 
lamp  of  experience." 

We  may  all  indulge  in  hope — "  the  dream  of  the  waking." 
It  is  in  the  broad  sympathies  of  the  young  manhood  of  our 


3Q 


country,— unbluntcd  by  intrigue, — unwarped  by  prejudice  ;  in 
what  one  of  the  papers  calls  "  the  courageous  honesty"  of  the 
young  men  of  the  land,  that  the  radiant  hope  of  the  future  lies. 
It  is  to  me,  this  evening,  an  especially  pleasant  thing,  to  believe- 
that  that  hope  is  justified  in  the  growing  and  abundant  promise 
of  the  abilities  of  the  gentleman  whom  you  now  honor  as  your 
guest  [applause)  \  one  who,  as  has  been  said  by  your  chafrman, 
has  cast  aside  the  frivolities  and  pleasures,  which  surrounded 
him,  and  in  which  he  might  have  easily  indulged,  and  given  his 
young  life  to  the  patient  and  honest  study  of  grave  political 
questions;  who  has  shown  by  his  speeches,  that  he  is  abreast 
with  the  most  enlightened  and  progressive  lovers  of  the  republic, 
in  the  consideration  of  economic  questions,  and  in  the  demand 
for  thorough  and  radical  reform  in  all  the  ways  and  methods 
of  taxation,  and  who  has  evinced  an  uncommon  aptitude  in  the 
discharge  of  his  responsible  duties  as  a  member  of  Committee 
on  Foreign  Affairs — an  aptitude  which,  in  part  at  least,  he  may 
have  inherited  from  his  honored  father — who  was,  save  one,  the 
most  accomplished  minister  this  country  ever  sent  to  the 
Hague.    ( A pplause. ) 

In  this  bright  gathering  of  earnest,  self-reliant  and  patriotic 
young  men,  let  me  express  the  hope  that  our  friend  will  incar- 
nate in  his  representative  action,  what  Rufus  Choate  described 
as  "  the  spirit  of  gay  and  festive  defiance — the  spirit  of  exultant 
American  Nationality."  And  let  me  say  to  him  in  all  candor, 
and  with  all  respect,  in  behalf  of  a  portion  of  our  fellow  citizens, 
of  which  I  am  probably  the  sole  representative  among  the 
speakers  here  to-night,  that  it  will  redound  to  the  strength  and 
glory  of  the  Republic — that  it  will  redound  to  the  success  and 
honor  of  our  party,  if  our  foreign  policy  shall  ever  afford  an 
unwavering  and  inflexible  protection,  in  the  sacred  right  of 
citizenship,  to  those  who  have  abjured  all  fealty  to  foreign 
princes  and  potentates,  and  solemnly  and  voluntarily  pledged 
allegiance  to  our  government.  {Applause?) 

My  friends,  I  am  a  plain  man  from  up  the  country — an  out- 
spoken rural  Democrat — but  I  can  say  to  you  men  of  New  York, 
that  the  great  commercial  interests  of  the  state  are  in  safe  hands, 
when  such  men  as  Abraham  S.  Hewitt.  William  Dorsheimer, 
Samuel  S.  Cox  and  Perry  Belmont  are  your  honored  represen- 
tatives.    Be  vigilant  that  your  imperial  city  and  its  quickly 


3i 


developing  vicinage  continue  to  be  thus  fitly  represented,  and 
we  of  the  country  will  endeavor  so  to  discharge  the  great 
trust  of  the  state  administration,  as  to  merit  the  approval  of  the 
people  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  to  come,  and  to  put  forward 
as  the  custodians  of  that  trust,  farmer  statesmen  of  the  school 
and  type  of  Silas  Wright. 

There  is  great  hope  of  the  future  of  our  party,  if  we  but 
mark  and  emulate  the  example  of  the  good  old  county  of 
Albany,  from  which  I  come.  For  years  we  spent  our  strength, 
not  upon  the  common  enemy,  but  upon  one  another ;  we  were 
torn  assunder  by  internal  dissensions — bitter  factional  fighting, 
wranglings  and  contentions,  but  now,  thanks  to  patriotic  counsels 
and  wise  and  prudent  leadership,  "  in  mutual  well  beseeming 
ranks  we  march  all  one  way  to  victory."  Discarding  the  con- 
tentions of  the  past,  clasping. hands  in  brotherhood,  the  Demo- 
cracy of  Albany  County  point  with  pride  to  the  brilliant  record 
of  its  last  three  years'  labors  and  triumphs.  The  young  men 
of  the  party  only  want  the  wine  of  victory  to  stimulate  them 
to  action — to  succeed  we  must  stamp  out  every  where  the  old 
feuds  and  contentions,  and  let  no  man  stay  the  march  of  a 
great  party! 

The  toast  to  which  I  speak  truly  says  the  hope  of  the  party 
is  based  on  faith  in  the  people.  Faith  in  the  people  is  the 
corner  stone  of  the  Republic — the  corner  stone  of  the  Democratic 
party.  With  faith  in  the  people,  as  the  final  repository  of 
power,  limited  only  by  the  organic  law  in  the  exercise  of  their 
will,  we  only  need  the  audacity  of  youth  to  lead  us  up  to 
greater  heights  of  prosperity,  power  and  grandeur  than  we  have 
yet  attained.  It  is  in  fidelity  to  the  principles  of  the  fathers, 
that  we  are  to  solidly  establish  ourselves  in  the  present,  and 
generously  and  abundantly  provide  for  the  future. 

Let  the  immortal  sentiment  of  Jefferson  be  our  animating 
principle,  "  Love  your  neighbor  as  yourself,  and  your  country 
better  than  yourself."  A  steady  adherence  to  the  Jeffersonian 
idea  of  a  frugal  government,  which  shall  restrain  one  man  from 
injuring  another,  leaving  him  free  in  all  things  else  to  regulate 
his  own  affairs,  nor  taking  from  the  mouth  of  labor  the  bread 
it  has  earned,  is  what  led  our  party  to  a  long  career  of  success, 
and  our  country  to  great  prosperity.  (Applause?) 


32 


I  have  probably  taken  more  time  in  tin's  response,  than  is 
pleasant  for  you  or  decorous  in  me  ;  in  closing,  let  me  express 
the  earnest  hope  that  in  this  initial  gathering  of  the  young  men 
of  the  Democratic  party,  w  e  will  resolve  to  organize,  to  teach 
anew  the  old  party  faith,  to  lift  aloft  the  ancient  party  standards, 
to  banish  the  spirit  of  internal  dissension  and  hatred  of  brethren. 
Let  us  covenant  to  discharge  the  practical  duties  of  every  day 
politics,  in  a  manly  and  courageous  way. 

Though  you  may  discourse  profoundly  as  philosophers,  and 
talk  with  never  so  eloquent  a  tongue;  though  you  may  pleasantly 
meet  and  felicitate  one  another,  till  your  locks  grow  gray,  if  you 
feel  above  the  people,  if  you  despise  popular  methods,  if  you 
neglect  primary  elections,  if  you  manifest  only  a  languid  interest 
in  the  platforms  and  candidates  of  your  party,  you  may  be 
assured  that  you  will  sit  down  in  the  ashes  of  your  hopes  and 
ambitions,  and  despair  forever  of  accomplishing  the  lofty  and 
honorable  results  which  your  training,  your  instincts  and  your 
hearts  prompt  you  to  look  hopefully  forward  to.  That,  for  a 
time,  may  be  discouraging  work,  but  assuredly  if  it  be  worth 
praising  in  theory,  it  must  be  worth  carrying  out  in  practice. 
(Applause?) 

The  young  men  of  the  party  gallantly  upbore  the  victorious 
standards  of  Grover  Cleveland  (applause)  and  David  B.  Hill. 
[Applause.)  The  silent  party  that  casts  its  votes  for  the  worthi- 
est, swelled  the  triumphal  march.  Let  us  prove  worthy  of  that 
magnificient  support,  and  we  will  find  the  future  gilded  with 
grand  successes.  Resolutely  working  for  what  is  right,  and  true, 
and  manly,  and  for  the  best  good  of  our  country,  let  us  go  on, 
from  this  fair  beginning,  conquering  and  to  couquer.  and  the 
one  hundred  millions  of  men  who  will  find  nourishment  on  the 
generous  bosom  of  this  great  mother  land  of  ours  in  fifty  years 
from  now,  will  be  as  free,  self-governing  men  as  we  are  to-day. 

Like  a  vigorous  tree,  the  Democratic  party  strikes  its  aged 
roots  into  the  generous  American  soil,  while  new  buds  are 
blossoming  and  brightening  at  the  top  ;  and  of  our  party  we  are 
proud  to-night  to  say  : 

"  Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  tears, 
Our  faith  triumphant  o'er  our  fears, 
Are  all  with  thee,  are  all  with  thee." 


33 


The  Chairman. — I  have  next  to  propose  to  you : 

The  delusions  of  the  Republican  politicians,  sure 
signs  of  decay  and  death :  that  professions  are  the 
same  as  practice  ;  that  corruption  will  pass  for  honesty  ; 
that  labor  can  be  deceived  by  false  pretenses,  while 
taxed  out  of  all  enjoyment ;  that  the  people  will  suffer 
themselves  to  be  beaten  by  money  extorted  from  their 
officers  to  form  a  fund  to  buy  votes ;  and  that  a  party 
can  live  solely  upon  its  claims  of  the  past,  after  all  its 
unsmirched  leaders  are  in  their  graves. 

I  have  the  honor  of  calling  upon  Dr.  MacDonald,  an  expert 
in  lunacy  cases,  to  respond  to  this  toast. 

REMARKS  BY  DR.  MAC  DONALD. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen — Young  Gentlemen: — There  is 
one  right  which  is  invariably  reserved  to  the  public  speaker — 
or  to  the  alleged  public  speaker  ;  and  that  is  the  right  to  quarrel 
with  his  subject.  I  mention  that  to-night  for  your  information, 
because  I  very  much  regret  to  say  that  the  Democrats  have  not 
had  as  much  to  say  lately  as  they  might  have  had  ;  because  also 
(I  again  regret  to  say)  they  will  probably  have  a  great  deal  more 
to  say  in  the  future.  But,  let  me  commence  by  quarreling  with 
my  toast :  I  mean  with  the  one  that  I  find  assigned  to  me  here 
to-night.  I  only  got  here  three  or  four  hours  ago  (having  other 
gentlemen  to  attend  to)  and  I  had  not  read  my  toast  till  I  came  ; 
but  upon  reading  it  I  was  staggered,  in  the  first  place,  by  the 
partiality  of  the  Toast  Committee,  in  giving  eight  lines  to  New 
Jersey,  and  only  four  to  New  York,  which  upsets  my  views  of 
apportionment  very  much  indeed.  {Laughter.)  In  the  first 
place  the  line  of  my  speech,  as  indicated  to  me  by  my  friend 
Dr.  Sayre  (and  I  think  indicated  to  htm  by  my  friend  Mr. 
Oelrichs),  was  that  I  should  say  something  such  as  I  was 
accustomed  to  say  to  the  sheriff's  jury.  But,  with  the  Cooper 
case  fresh  in  my  recollection,  I  should  very  much  prefer  to  say 
something  which  might  have  more  effect  upon  my  auditors,  than 
what  I  said  in  that  case  had  upon  the  sheriff's  jury.  {Laughter.) 

As  to  the  delusions  of  the  Republican  party,  I  fear  I  scarcely 
have  time  to-night  to  even  mention  them.    I  know  that  some  of 
5 


34 


you,  gentlemen,  want  to  get  to  a  place  which  was  indicated  by 
a  previous  speaker ;  I  know  that  some  of  you  want  to  be  sitting 
among  the  ashes  on  the  hearths  of  your  homes ;  and  so  I  will  not 
detain  you  by  catalogueing  the  delusions  of  the  Republican 
party.  And,  besides,  I  never  like  to  talk  about  a  case  without 
first  seeing  the  patient;  and  although  I  have  been  trying  ever 
since  the  last  election,  to  find  a  Republican,  I  have  utterly 
failed  to  do  so.  {Applause.)  I  will,  however,  remind  you,  in 
the  first  place,  that  if  the  Republican  party  have  a  great  many 
delusions,  and  the  Democrats  have  but  very  few,  my  expe- 
rience teaches  me  that  the  most  curable  cases  of  insanity,  are 
those  in  which  the  patient  has  the  most  delusions.  I  think  the 
delusions  of  the  Democratic  party  may  be  narrowed  down  to  two  : 
first  of  all,  that  when  they  got  into  power,' it  was  through  the 
Democratic  party  alone;  and  secondly,  that  they  have  nothing 
now  to  do  but  to  stay  there.  I  think  if  they  can  only  get  rid 
of  these  two  delusions,  they  will,  as  you  all  hope  to  see  them 
do,  stay  in  power  for  a  very  long  time.    <  Applause.) 

I  came  here  to-night,  upon  the  invitation  of  my  friend  Dr. 
Sayre,  with  the  idea  that  I  was  to  be  expected  to  speak  (as  all 
the  other  speakers  were  invited  to  do)  to  the  sentiment  indicated 
in  the  letter  of  invitation.  I  think  we  were  all  asked  to  ranee 
ourselves  upon  the  side  of  the  "Constitution."  I  came  here 
prepared  to  range  myself  accordingly.  I  didn't  know  just  what 
"  Constitution  "  was  meant ;  but  nevertheless,  I  was  prepared 
to  11  range."  I  thought  that  I  might  get  some  idea  of  what 
was  required  of  me  by  watching  the  people  about  me ;  but,  to 
my  surprise,  I  have  found  that  during  the  three  hours  I  have 
been  sitting  here,  the  gentlemen  who  were  so  much  concerned 
about  ranging  themselves  upon  the  side  of  the  "constitution," 
have  been  ranging  themselves  upon  the  outside  of  things 
which  are  very  detrimental  to  the  constitution.  {Laughter. )  It 
is  possible  that  there  is  some  confusion  of  terms.  The  consti- 
tution with  which  I  have  most  to  do  |  possibly  in  the  way  of 
undermining  it)  is  the  constitution  of  the  human  body.  Perhaps 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  alluded  to ;  or 
reference  might  have  been  intended  to  another  "constitution," 
which  I  have  seen  rather  liberally  advertised  lately,  in  the 
announcements  upon  posters  in  the  streets,  that  the  weight  of 
the  mammoth  hog  "  Constitution     was  to  be  guessed  at  in 


35 


some  town  on  Long  Island — I  think  in  Mr.  Belmont's  district. 
Yet,  since  I  come  to  think  of  it,  I  recall  the  fact  that  the 
guessing  was  to  be  for  the  benefit  of  a  Sunday  school,  and 
therefore  I  think  it  could  not  have  been  in  Mr.  Belmont's 
district.  {Laughter.) 

But  names  change  from  time  to  time  ;  and  the  meanings  which 
we  attach  to  them  change ;  and  yet  after  all  there  is  something 
in  a  name  ;  for  I  have  been  informed  since  I  came  here  to-night, 
by  gentlemen  who  are  upon  the  inside  of  political  affairs,  and 
therefore  supposed  to  speak  with  authority,  that  Mr.  Edson 
owes  his  election  to  the  office  of  mayor  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  to  the  respect  which  the  people  have  for  his  efforts  in 
electric  lighting;  and  that  our  friend,  Surgeon-General  Bryant, 
owes  the  popular  approbation  with  which  his  appointment  has 
been  received,  to  the  deep-rooted  liking  which  the  people  have  in 
their  hearts,  for  anybody  who  is  connected  with  negro  minstrelsy. 
{Laughter.) 

As  I  have  said,  names  change,  and  people  also  have  to  change 
to  keep  up  with  the  times.  That  estimable  lady  whose  portrait 
lends  an  added  pang  to  the  perils  and  dangers  of  changing  cars 
at  Chatham  Square,  held  for  many  years  a  high  position  in 
public  life,  simply  as  the  "  Kentucky  Bearded  Lady  ;"  but  now,  in 
order  to  keep  her  place  in  the  popular  esteem,  she  has  to  add  to 
her  former  title  that  of  "  The  Great  American  Snake  Charmer.'' 
And  so  it  goes  all  through  life.  We  change  our  politics.  We 
change  even  our  professions.  The  diseases  which  we  had  to 
treat  years  ago  we  do  not  have  to  treat  now.  When  my  friend 
Dr.  Sayre  is  called  in,  now-a-days,  to  treat  some  citizen  who 
has  had  the  temerity  to  visit  some  of  the  down-town  streets,  he 
knows  that  he  has  either  been  hit  on  the  head  by  a  hot  bolt  from 
the  Elevated  Railway,  or  has  been  blown  up  by  an  explosion  of 
the  pipes  of  the  Steam  Heating  Company.  {Laughter.)  And 
even  in  poetry,  the  thing  we  would  think  less  subject  to  change 
than  anything  else,  see  the  changes  which  come  over  it.  Look 
from  our  former  laureate  to  our  later  one  ;  from  Tennyson  to 
Wilde ;  from  the  man  who  wrote  about  others,  to  the  man  who 
writes  about  himself;  from  the  Idyl  of  the  King  to  the  idyl  of 
the  entire  pack ;  from  Elaine  to  Oscar ;  from  the  Lilly  Maid  of 
Astolat  to  the  Sunflower  Man  of  Piccadilly;  from  the  "dead 
steered  by  the  dumb,"  to  the  dumb  steered  by  the  hungry  ! 


36 


{Laughter.)  And  so,  gentlemen,  there  arc  lots  of  changes  I 
might  refer  to,  if  it  were  not  so  late.  There  is  one  tiling  I  would 
like  to  say  here;  a  thing  I  tried  to  say  in  the  ante-room,  but  a 
hundred  other  members  of  the  party  were  before  me.  It  is  a 
personal  matter,  concerning  which  I  would  like  to  speak  to  Mr. 
Belmont,  and  it  arises  out  of  a  little  claim  w  hich  I  have  :  it  is  a 
very  small  one;  I  made  it  very  small,  because  I  thought  that  if 
I  made  it  very  small  I  might  have  a  better  chance  of  getting  it 
all  for  myself,  and  feared  if  I  made  it  too  large  I  might  have  to 
share  it  with  too  many  others.  <  Laughti r.)  As  I  say,  I  tried 
to  speak  to  Mr.  Belmont  about  it  before  we  entered  the  dining 
room,  but  I  found  that  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  had  already 
begun  to  speak  to  him  about  their  little  claims,  and  that  the 
other  fifty,  being  unfortunately  prevented  from  coming  here,  had 
taken  an  opportunity  to  speak  about  their  claims  before  he 
arrived.  <  Laughter.)  Mine  is  a  claim  arising  from  my  connection 
with  a  late  departed  but  unlamented  citizen,  Mr.  Charles  Julius 
Guiteau.  I  found  myself  one  of  three  parties — the  United 
States  Government,  the  hotel  keeper,  and  myself.  The  United 
States  Government  gave  me  a  dollar  a  day;  I  had  to  give  the 
hotel  proprietor  four  dollars  a  day;  and  it  has  dawned  upon 
me  that,  perhaps,  in  the  many  changes  that  have  come  over 
political  affairs,  the  United  States  Government,  the  landlord, 
and  myself,  may  have  changed  places;  and  it  may  be  that  I 
shall  yet  find  myself  in  the  position  of  the  hotel  keeper,  and 
the  United  States  Government  may  find  itself  in  the  position 
of  myself,  and  that  so  all  things  may  be  made  right.  However, 
I  do  not  wish  to  unduly  impress  this  upon  Mr.  Belmont  at  the 
present  time.  I  have  referred  to  poetry;  may  I  say  to  him,  in 
those  familiar  words — which  have  I  think  so  much  of  genuine 
poetry  and  pathos  in  them.  "  I  will  see  you  later."  {Laughter.) 

The  Chairman. — There  is  one  very  important  matter  which 
has  been  left  off  the  list  of  toasts:  the  Influence  of  the  Bar 
in  Public  Life.  As  the  Committee  have  not  furnished  me  with 
any  sentiment  connected  with  the  toast,  I  am  just  a  little  at  a 
loss  to  know  which  Bar  is  meant.  It  might  seem  invidious, 
and  might  possibly  hurt  the  feelings  of  some  one,  if  I  said  that 
the  toast  referred  to  any  particular  bar.  I  therefore  feel  com- 
pelled to  defer  the  solution  of  the  problem  to  the  gentleman 


57 


whom  I  am  going  to  call  upon  to  respond  to  the  toast — Mr. 
Bell,    Let  us  drink  to  the  toast,  and  then  to  him. 

SPEECH  OF  MR.  BELL. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  : — I  esteem  it  a  peculiar  honor 
to  be  called  upon  to  speak  to  such  an  assembly  as  this,  of  the 
Bar,  and  of  its  influence  upon  the  politics  of  the  country.  I 
can  well  imagine  the  doubt  which  naturally  prevades  the  mind 
of  the  average  Democratic  chairman,  at  this  hour  of  the  evening, 
in  knowing  to  which  Bar  allusion  was  made,  when  speaking  of 
its  influence  upon  the  Democratic  party. 

But,  without  jesting,  the  toast  (which  has  been  suggested  to 
me  since  I  came  in  this  evening)  recalls  to  my  mind,  as  it  must 
to  yours,  the  names  of  illustrious  men  who  have  been  identified 
with  the  history  and  glory  of  this  country  ;  of  some  who  were 
taught  the  principles  of  democracy  by  Jefferson  ;  of  others,  like 
Van  Buren,  Marcy,  Silas  Wright  of  the  last  generation,  or  like 
Hoffman  and  Tilden  of  our  own  time,  who  have  been  moved 
by  the  spirit  of  those  teachings,  and  have  made  that  influence 
felt  upon  the  political  history  of  the  time.  A  few  years  ago  I 
saw  in  Milan  a  statue  erected  by  the  Italian  government,  designed 
to  personify,  in  unimperishable  marble,  the  Spirit  of  Liberty, 
and  to  perpetuate  the  name  of  her  celebrated  statesman — 
Count  Cavour ;  but  in  this  country  no  monument  is  needed  to 
hand  down  to  posterity  the  imperishable  names  of  those 
members  of  the  Bar  who  are  so  indissolubly  connected  with 
the  glory  and  renown  of  the  Democratic  party. 

The  allusion  of  your  chairman  to  the  influence  of  that  other 
bar,  at  times  so  conspicuous  in  its  successes,  has  suggested  to 
my  mind  the  name  of  one  of  the  Jeunesse  dore'e  of  the  City  of 
New  York  in  his  time — the  younger  Van  Buren,  to  hear  whom 
at  a  political  meeting,  I  was  once  taken,  when  a  child,  by  my 
father ;  and,  if  you  will  bear  with  me  a  moment,  I  will  tell  you 
a  story  that  John  told  on  that  occasion.  It  was  a  story  of  the 
Tenth  Legion  of  Virginia.  It  was  at  the  time  when  the  Presi- 
dential contest  for  Harry  Clay  was  pending.  The  Democratic 
party  had  then  been  long  in  power.  A  leader  of  the  great  Whig 
party  called  upon  one  of  the  most  eloquent  men  of  the  time,  to 
go  among  the  Tenth  Legion  of  Virginia  and  see  if  something 


3« 


could  not  be  done  to  arrest  the  tide  of  Democratic  successes, 
which  had  then  been  unbroken  since  the  days  of  Jackson,  and 
man)-  w  ho  had  voted  for  Jackson,  had  been  voting  for  him  ever 
since.  This  most  eloquent  man  had  been  taken  down  there  to 
assist  in  the  canvass ;  and,  I  well  recall  Van  Buren's  narrative 
of  what  occurred.  In  a  large  meeting  the  speaker  had  appealed 
to  his  hearers  by  ever)-  art  which  oratory  gave  him  j  but  lie 
failed  to  discover  any  signs  of  weakness  in  the  unflinching 
columns  of  the  Tenth  Legion.  He  finally  addressed  his 
remarks  particularly  to  a  venerable  man  in  a  front  seat,  hoping 
thereby  to  gain  at  least  one  recruit.  He  said,  "  Sir,  if  George- 
Washington,  the  Father  of  his  country,  the  great  general  who 
had  led  our  army  to  triumph  upon  every  battle-field  of  the 
revolution,  should  come  back  again  to  Virginia,  and  should  run 
for  Congress  in  your  district, — would  you  vote  for  him  ?"  The 
old  man,  bowed  down  with  age  and  leaning  upon  his  staff,  rose 
up  and  said, — "  If  he  had  the  regular  nomination  of  the  Demo- 
cratic part)-  I  would,  and  if  he  hadn't  I  would  be  damned  if  I 
would."  The  democracy  are  sharp  and  shrewd  observers  of 
current  events.  In  the  political  crisis  which  has  just  passed, 
they  have  selected,  to  represent  them,  particularly  in  this  state, 
(and  also,  as  has  been  stated,  in  the  adjacent  states),  three 
prominent  men  who  are  closely  identified  with  the  Young 
Democracy  of  this  state :  Grover  Cleveland,  who  has  been 
already  named  to  you  ;  our  guest  this  evening,  and  the  dis- 
tinguished member  of  the  bar  of  the  county  of  Chemung, 
who  now  represents  the  state  in  the  Lieutenant  Governor's 
chair.  These  gentlemen  are  all  from  the  younger  bar  of  the 
state  ;  and  they  have  each  been  eminently  successful  in  public 
affairs. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  lineage  of  our  guest.  If  at 
any  time  in  the  future,  by  reason  of  one  of  those  party  mistakes 
which  have  sometimes  been  made  in  the  past,  the  Democratic 
party  shall  fail  to  win  ;  if,  at  any  time  hereafter,  that  good  for- 
tune which  in  the  olden  time  seemed  always  to  attend  the 
Democratic  party,  which  later  may  have  deserted  it,  but 
now  seems  again  to  be  leading  the  party  on  to  victory,  shall 
seem  to  be  wavering,  let  a  Belmont  stand  at  the  helm,  and, 
in  the  crisis  of  the  battle  for  democracy  you  will  have,  as  I 
firmly  believe,  a  man  who,  if  his  ship  goes  down,  will  as  his 


39 


ancestor  did  on  Lake  Erie,  transfer  his  flag  to  another  ship, 
and  win  ! 

The  Chairman. — I  am  informed  that  Col.  M.  Lewis  Clark 
of  Kentucky,  is  present,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  this  company 
should  not  separate  without  hearing  a  word  or  two  from  the 
representative  of  the  Sunny  South,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but 
that,  after  listening  to  the  flow  of  eloquence,  wit  and  broad 
statesmanship,  which  have  shone  so  conspicuously  in  the 
speeches  of  the  evening,  he  will  gratify  us  with  at  least  a  few 
words. 

SPEECH  OF  COL.  M.  LEWIS  CLARK. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen : — I  am  proud  -to  say  that  I 
desire  to  express  myself  in  one  respect :  and  that  is  of  my 
admiration  for  a  wellbred  politician.  We  have  an  axiom  in 
Kentucky  that  "  Blood  will  tell ;  "  and  we  have  here  had  an 
illustration  of  its  truth.  I  am  glad  to  be  here  to-night  as  a 
representative  of  Kentucky,  because  it  has  enabled  me  to  realize, 
as  I  never  have  before,  the  fact  of  the  obliteration,  in  cosmo- 
politan politics,  of  that  imaginary  line  of  Mason  and  Dixon. 
The  hour  is  late  ;  I  will  not  detain  you  by  a  speech  ;  I  will  only 
express  my  gratification  in  meeting  with  you  in  this  entertain- 
ment, in  honor  of  your  guest ;  and  my  hope  that  in  the  future 
the  Democratic  party  will  be  guided  by  the  grand  old  motto  of 
my  State:  "United  we  stand;  divided  we  fall."  {Applause.) 

At  the  conclusion  of  Col.  Clark's  speech  the  Chairman 
brought  the  festivities  to  a  close,  and  everyone  retired,  feeling 
that  the  victory  of  1882,  the  past  glories  of  the  Democracy,  and 
its  future  hopes,  aspirations  and  prospects,  were  impressed  upon 
his  memory  in  a  most  pleasant  manner. 


